The interwebs, and specifically Twitter just absolutely blew up tonight after the verdict in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial was released. Zimmerman was found not guilty on all charges which created quite the uproar. While not surprising to me, because... well... Florida.... apparently a lot of folks were shocked by the outcome and understandably upset.

Victor Cruz of the New York Football Giants offered his own, let's call it "unique" perspective on the matter:

I'll be surprised if this isn't deleted in short order.... Especially given the backdrop set by Aaron Hernandez that the NFL is currently dealing with.

Tyrann Mathieu, a.k.a., the Honey Badger, dropped I to the 3rd round of the NFL Draft due to a few "off the field" issues. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals and a local business (a head shop) had quite the interesting welcome for one of their new players....

While the Browns are being extremely secretive about their new Head Coaching search, I do have a new report about outgoing team President, Mike Holmgren.
A source inside the Browns has reported that prior to his departure, Mike Holmgren approached new owner Jimmy Haslam III & new CEO Joe Banner & offered his services to be Head Coach.
Haslam & Banner reportedly declined the offer which may have lead to Holmgren's sudden departure (he was expected to leave following the end of this season).

The Cleveland Browns have announced that today is Mike Holmgren's last day with the Browns.

Following Jimmy Haslam III's appointment of Joe Banner as the new CEO, Holmgren previously announced this season would be his last in Cleveland. Everyone believed he would finish out the season though and the timing is certainly odd. Holmgren has been met by much criticism due to the team's performance, Holmgren's interaction with the fans and media (and at times lack thereof), and most recently due to his open attempts to vie for the Cowboys coaching job. A job which happens to be filled for the time being.

Fans are especially irritated with this due to the fact that Holmgren showed zero interest in coaching the Browns after firing Eric Mangini. If that weren't bad enough, he subsequently hired Pat Shurmur after assembling what most would call a weak pool of candidates.

While I can't say for sure what prompted the timing of this decision to happen now, it wouldn't surprise me if his antics related to the Cowboys played a role. I can say however, that people in Berea have confirmed that Holmgren and Joe Banner "got into it" earlier this week.

I don't know what about and I don't know if it's related to this announcement, but it's definitely interesting.

After much criticism, the Cleveland Browns have decided to cancel their much maligned white flag giveaway for tomorrow's game against the rival Steelers.

As everyone in the free world (aside from decision makers within the Cleveland Browns) knows, a white flag is a widely known symbol for surrender. Something that may not be well received for a fan base which has lost 16 of the last 17 games to the Steelers.

Honestly, in my opinion, the Browns look even worse canceling the promotion now. They were either completely unaware of what an idiotic idea it was or they are so swayed by the fans that they can be that easily influenced.

I still have high hopes for incoming owner Jimmy Haslam III, but I've been less than impressed with some of the things that continue to occur since he's taken over. It's early and he still gets the benefit of the doubt in my book, but things need to change in this organization. Quickly.

As if the Browns weren't enough of an embarrassment to the people of Cleveland, their latest idea is even is worse than usual. Pictures above, someone thought it'd be a good idea to hand out these white flags at this week's game against the rival Steelers. Maybe they don't know the universal meaning of "waiving the white flag"....

Josh Cribbs is undoubtedly a special return man and special teams player. After negotiating what most people in the league believed to be too high of a contract for a special teams player, Cribbs and the Browns attempted to get more value out of him by utilizing him at WR.

It has not worked out very well for a variety of reasons. My sources inside the Browns have confirmed that Cribbs is just as much to blame, if not more so than anyone else. Until very recently, he has not taken being a WR very seriously, skipping offensive meetings or leaving them early, not putting in the extra work to learn the playbook or to improve route running, etc. In fact, I'm told that at this point, he still routinely runs the wrong routes/yardages and makes it nearly impossible for a QB to get the proper timing down with him.

With that said, Cribbs is once again making noise about his offensive production, or lack thereof.

Josh Cribbs told the Cleveland Plain Dealer the following yesterday:

"I feel like I'm trapped. "I feel like a caged athlete."

This season, he has six catches for 54 yards and two runs for 8 after having career highs with 41 catches and 518 yards last season.

I think anyone with an unbiased perspective would also be able to compare the WR talent and depth on the Browns roster from last season to this season and understand why that may be. The Browns drafted ultra talented (and ultra raw) WR Josh Gordon in the 2nd round of the supplemental draft and added Travis Benjamin and Josh Cooper just this season.

Perhaps even more importantly, Cribbs is in the last year of that overpriced contract. It's highly unlikely the Browns will allocate new dollars (especially at the level Cribbs thinks he deserves) to an aging special teams player who's production on special teams has dropped. Why would the Browns feature Cribbs and take reps and experience away from the young WRs they invested in just to appease someone who will likely not be around next year? They wouldn't.

Cribbs, however, doesn't seem to understand how the NFL works.

"Me going from being able to run the wildcat, to playing receiver last season and catching 41 passes and four touchdowns to nothing -- I can't believe it," said Cribbs. "By me not playing, I feel like they think I'm not good, that I've lost it. But I haven't. I feel when I'm out there I can contribute, but I'm not able to."

Cribbs says he's already talked to Head Coach, Pat Shurmur about his role earlier in the season and said the following:

"There's no point," he said. "Obviously they feel like everybody that's in front of me is a better athlete. I disagree. I feel a different way than the coach feels about me. They must feel I can't produce. We have a difference of opinion."

While Cribbs undoubtedly wants to be more involved in the offense because he's confident in his abilities, perhaps the real motivation behind his public complaints lie within this quote:

"There's something wrong when one of your best athletes doesn't get the ball," he said. "I'm tired of people saying they don't know how to use me. Get creative. Find ways.

"I can't even showcase myself. I'm more than a special teams player. I've proven that. I belong on the field more than this, more than what they're allowing me to do. I've tried to not to say much, but it's upsetting. We're nine games into the season and I haven't gotten a chance."

Perhaps Cribbs knows his time in Cleveland is running out (at least he should) and he's frustrated that he's been unable to audition for other teams this season to help him land another big contract. But that is a strictly selfish position. As I've stated, why would the Browns hinder the development of the young players they've invested in for the future just to appease someone who won't be around next year?

Cribbs has long been a fan favorite and he has long used the media to manipulate fan sentiment (an example right here):

"It's because of these fans," he said. "I'm going to try to stay here. If Mr. (Jimmy) Haslam will have me, I'll stay. If not, I'm sure I'll be playing football somewhere else."

It seems many fans are becoming wise to his antics however and Cribbs may be wearing out his welcome in Cleveland sooner than he thinks.